Enterprise software startups raised $5.4 billion during the first half of the year, which is about what they raised during all of 2013, according to an analysis by TechCrunch. The new technology is more than an investment theme, though. It is changing the parameters for business.

The Internet of Things will create unprecedented volumes of data generated by a widening array of devices and computing power embedded in formerly mute machines. The ecosystem around managing that data is growing, and tech companies are clamoring to take advantage of it.

Experts predict that Hadoop, the framework for processing and storing data, will become widely used in data centers over the next five years. To do that, developers will need to figure out ways to better integrate it with existing technology in the enterprise.

Lost amid all the talk of a tech bubble is the fact that some billion-dollar startups reflect important innovations in IT. Here are sectors, along with key startups, that CIOs ought to watch, regardless of how tech valuations play out.

Satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp. turned to open source database software in 2012 when its first foray into Big Data crippled its conventional database. Dish wants to capitalize on data it collects in its interactions with customers to be able to better market new products and services.

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